Superintendent presents balanced budget

Comment

By Andy Barrand

Hillsdale.net - Hillsdale, MI

By Andy Barrand

Posted Dec. 20, 2012 at 11:24 AM

By Andy Barrand

Posted Dec. 20, 2012 at 11:24 AM

Hillsdale, Mich.

andy.barrand@hillsdale.net

PITTSFORD — Pittsford Community Schools Superintendent Andrew Shaw had good news to share with the school board Monday night as a balanced budget was presented. The $5.3 million budget will leave the school system with $430,000 left in its fund balance as of June 30, 2013. Shaw said that was important, as the fund acts as a rainy day fund for the corporation and can be used in times of emergency. “We are working to have a fund balance of 10 percent of the total budget, which is around $500,000,” Shaw said. Shaw said in the last couple of years the corporation has had to dip into its balance fund to help with different projects around the school. He said there was several factors that helped the corporation reach the point of having $200,000 more than they expected in the fund. The first factor was the increase in the school's enrollment with 28 new students. “That was huge,” Shaw said. Other factors included the retirement in the area of expenditures and a change in the corporation's insurance. Shaw said the corporation's administration and bus drivers made concessions to save the corporation money. Shaw personally took a 5 percent pay cut. Members of the school board did their part by foregoing meeting stipends. “We are a pretty tight knit group,” Shaw said. “We want to do what’s best for our kids.” The corporation has applied for monies from the Rural and Low Income Grant. The corporation received the grant last year and bought 35 iPads and a charging cart for the elementary school. With this year’s grant the corporation will buy an additional 35 iPads and a charging cart for middle and high school students. “This will allow 10 percent of the school’s population to have an iPad in their hands at one time,” Shaw said. He said the teachers have been utilizing the iPads for a wide variety of teaching options including reading, math and other classroom assignments. “They are always coming up with new ways (to use the iPads), which are embraced by the students,” Shaw said. Over Christmas break crews will upgrade the technology infrastructure of the school and make repairs to damage that resulted from water leaks earlier this year. Crews will be installing fiber optic lines and installing new core switches throughout the school. The upgrades are costing the corporation $20,000. “It is something we needed,” Shaw said. “We want to have a stable backbone in our system.” The board said goodbye to Craig Armstrong, who has been a member for four years. He will be replaced by Stacie Clark after the first of the year. In other business: • The student council collected 687 canned goods during its food drive. • Projects for the school’s Civil Rights Compliance Plan have been completed. • The district, along with other Hillsdale County and Jackson County school districts, were declined funding from the Technology Infrastructure Grant due to grant requirements that would make the expense to comply more than the amount received. • Students and staff originally scheduled to return to school from Christmas break on Jan. 2, 2013 are now scheduled to return on Jan. 3, 2013, moving the last day of school to June 5, 2013.